The Afterparty
by Tallielle
Summary: Just my little drivel of life after the Finale.I write as it comes! Thanks to Netflix for the inspiration. JavaJunkies for sure! Leave me some love if you like it and want me to continue!
1. Chapter 1

Lorelai blows in like she always does, a tangle of dark curls, blue eyes and some crazy colored scarf that she bought god knows where.

"Ding dong, girl friend is here, need coffee will travel." She sits down with a flurry of energy and slaps the table top with the flat of her hand.

Luke obliges with a wry little smile, pouring her a cup and shaking his head.

"I still don't understand how you can drink this crap at 8 o'clock at night."

"Uh! Sacrilege from such a handsome mouth. I shouldn't expect anything less."

He ignores her mock look of wide-blue-eyed shock.

"You went shopping, I see." He glances at the orange bag she brought in with her from the cold.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious with a hot butt. Wanna see what I got?" she croons sweetly.

He doesn't even respond, he just makes some sort of hand gesture that implies that he knows she is going to show him anyway.

"It's a doggy Paul Anka t-shirt for Paul Anka. It will be like Ryan Gosling wearing a t-shirt of Macaulay Culkin wearing a t-shirt of Ryan Gosling wearing a T-shirt of Macaulay Culkin! T-shirtception! Wooo!"

"I tried to follow that. It didn't work."

She holds it up. "Look at it! It is SO cute. Paul Anka is going to look so adorable in it." She gives a little squeal.

"I'm not sure if that dog likes wearing clothing. I mean I don't think dogs are meant to wear clothing, It isn't natural. I mean dogs have fur, so why would they need a shirt..."

"Paul Anka, wearing Paul Anka? Doggie Paul Anka, what are you wearing? Paul Anka! Ooo edgy. C'mon, you know you love it." She slurps her coffee. "Hmmm donut. Need a donut."

"As you wish." He half sarcastically quips and quickly grabs one from behind the counter.

She bites into it and suddenly pouts.

"Stale?"

"No." she sighs, "Rory."

"What? Did I miss something."

She sighs and looks at him doe eyed. "I haven't seen her in months, Luke! Months! I know she is off tramping around the world like she is supposed to be and like I wanted her to do, but I miss her. And eating donuts with her...and movies...and Paul Anka...and...she called me today and she had THE voice."

"THE Voice?"

"The Hi mom, I'm fine, I just interviewed Kim Kardashian's butt and am scheduled to go to a city whose name I can't pronounce next week in a country whose name is even longer and I just had a fling with the hot office boy and ohhhh I'm so carefree look at me, I'm fine! Which translates to "Hey Mom I am really not fine at all." Yep, something is wrong. I don't know what. But something is definitely wrong and she doesn't want to tell me."

Luke pulls out the chair across from her and turns it around, draping his legs over it so his chest hugs the back.

He reaches across the table and puts his hand on top of hers.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she misses here, and you too?"

"But she is globe trotting! Seeing the world, just like she always wanted. And Stars Hollow is Stars Hollow. Just our tiny little corner of Connecticut. She always wanted to get out, see other places. She was always too big for this town." She blows her hair in front of her face and pushes the donut away.

"Hey, how about next time she is in the city, we head to New York? Yeah, we could even rent a limo and go if you want...make a real day out of it...and..."

"Luke." Lorelai tries to interrupt, her eyes softening as she looks at him.

"We could go to the place that you said you liked that one time and..."

"Luke." Her eyes soften further and she gives a puff of a sigh.

"Actually I'll call her and schedule something myself if you..."

"Luke."

He looks at her and a brief flash of déjà vu washes over him.

"Luke, I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

Luke's eyes widen and he raises his eyebrows. He gives a decisive sigh.

"Oh...you...you're? WAIT! Wait." He points at her, "Lorelai Gilmore, you DO NOT get to steal my thunder from me again." He quick steps it to behind the counter, nervously takes off his baseball cap and puts it back on and looks where she is sitting looking at him with shining blue eyes and an expression that hits him somewhere between his chest and his stomach. He has had it planned for tonight anyway, but hearing that she was ready directly from her lifts some of the deadweight off of his chest. Some of her intrigue is the fact that half the time she is a puzzle he has to figure out; a crazy, frustrating, and beautiful conundrum. There are times when he thinks he knows exactly what she is going to say or do and then she surprises him with something so startlingly out of left field but so succinctly _Lorelai_ that he can't help but fall in love with her a little more. And tonight..._tonight _he is going to surprise her with something that is so very Luke Danes.

"Come here, come here." He waves her over.

She gives him a slow, wandering smile and he marvels at that little familiar flash of heaven, thinking about how it has left its imprint on his happiest and darkest days.

"What are ya hiding back there, Carmen SanDeigo? Is there a collection of my favorite things in your pants? Because if it that's it then I'm going to have to pants you. Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin like a fool with your...no?" she stops prattling when Luke gives her a bemused look his mouth twisting slightly upward. "Ok, I'm coming, Im coming!" She pushes out her chair and hops up, moving slowly to the counter.

"I'm here to see a man about my heart." She quips in her best Greta Garbo and he reaches over the counter gently and grabs her wrist, then leads her around to stand with him. She bumps into his shoulder a little awkwardly, and for a moment they stand in silence, side by side, looking out at the town square. He glances at his watch, which is something that Lorelai notes as odd, but she doesn't mention anything. There seems to be a palpable magic in this moment with Luke, and she doesn't want to break it and send the magic falling away.

"First cold night of the year." Luke says with a smirk, and rocks back on his heels. He squints at the sky outside.

_C'mon...Babette's never wrong.._

"Luke." She jabs him with her elbow. "Hey Luke?" another jab, still no answer, just the quirk of his lips. "Hey super sexy diner owner that I know definitely does have a dudley do right hat somewhere in his stash of weird outdoor stuff?"

"I told you that if you kept picturing me with that thing...DAMN you're good. What?" He glances sideways at her.

She sighs. "Magic gone."

"What?"

"Never mind. Why is the only thing that is lit up in the town square the gazebo?"

"It probably has something to do with Kirk."

"Kirk? You know what...I'm not even going to...Oh Luke, LUKE, it's snowing!"

"Thank God for Babette's ankles."

"What?"

"Nothing." He grins as she goes completely still beside him, taking in the scene outside, Stars Hollow becoming blanketed in white.

She thinks back to all of the first snows of the year that she has carefully cataloged in her brain and settles on the one where she pulled a grumpy, stiff Luke out of bed and dragged him out to the street to stand with him as the first flakes of the year came gently dancing down. She remembers how he looked with the snow in his hair, squinting against the cold, all huddled in his pajamas, clutching her hand in front of her house. How he had pretended to _hate_ snow and sympathized with her the next day when she railed against the winter gods, and then how she had come home to the ice rink he had built for her that night and they spent the night falling and laughing and kissing and appreciating the cold. She remembers too, a Christmas just two years ago where she trudged out in the snow to drop a letter in the mailbox, and the white flakes had whispered to her the secrets of her own soul- that she did, and would always, love Luke Danes.

"You and snow. I know you have a relationship."

"We do." She simply whispers it with a smile, no witty word play. He was expecting something about song lyrics, but when he looks over at her he sees that her eyes are bright and soft and dreamy in that special Lorelai way that means that he is doing very, very well. She squeezes his bicep and lays her head against his shoulder, watching the gentle snowflake's dance become more frantic outside the diner windows.

"So," he whispers into the ear that is resting nearest to him, "Wanna know why I bought you back here?"

"EeeYeees." Lorelai croons, removing her head from its nook, her eyes squinting and sparkling up at him.

""Remember when we were repainting the diner and crawling around back here because I wanted to show you my father's notes on the side on the counter? Well, there was a note I didn't show you."

"Luke, you remember the most..." she goes to complete her sentence but suddenly she is on the floor with Luke, staring at the same spot they stared at so many moons ago.

"3 Hammers, Phillip head screw driver, 3 boxes of nails assorted sizes...Lorelai Gilmore, will you marry me?" she reads, feeling her throat go tight and her eyes get moist. She runs her hand over the writing on the counter, tracing the similarities between William's and Luke's consonants and vowels.

"The only spot we didn't spruce." Luke gently chimes.

"Yes." Lorelai smiles at him, a big, face swallowing smile, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. "Yes, Luke Danes. I am so, so ready."

"I'm going to do something I should have done that same night."

"And what is that?"

"Kiss you."

Luke pulls her into him and she meets him halfway in a long, slow, adoring kiss.

"Mmm." She opens her eyes unhurriedly.

"I almost forgot." He rummages around in one of his pockets and pulls out a ring box, popping it open. "The ring! Finger please."

She gives a small giggle and presents her hand to him so he can slip it on.

_Tap, tap, tap._

"Just a second!" Luke yells, wryly smiling at Lorelai and giving her hand a pat.

_Tap, tap, tap._

"We are closed!" he is yelling, but Lorelai feels him shifting to get up anyway and she springs up with him, brushing herself off. Luke strides quickly over to the door and opens it up to a very out of breath and very bundled up Babbette.

"So honey what did she say?"

Luke smiles down at her.

"Tell them to hit the lights, and thank your ankles for me."

"LIGHHHTTTS!" Babbette yells, and suddenly the whole town square is alight, and Lorelai can see that the patchwork tent that Luke sewed for Rory's Bon Voyage party is up again, the townfolk huddled and bundled underneath.

"Oh my God." She exclaims as Babbette is already grabbing her hand and admiring her ring.

"SHE SAID YES!" she screams in her gravelly voice, sending the people underneath the tent into a frenzied flurry of whoops and cheers and clapping.

Luke presses a hand into her back.

"C'mon, I think they have Zima."

"Well I didn't know you even liked that chick beer, Mr."

"You know it is the only thing appropriate for a proper engagement toast." He shoots back as they make their way to the tent.

"Wait, oh my cell phone! I left it back in the diner." She pulls on his arm to go get it.

"Why would you need that?"

"Well I have to call Rory! Of course I have to account for the time difference and all...Luke, do you know what time it is in Fiji?"

"Not, a clue. But I don't think you need that cell phone."

"Why? OH LUKE! What did you do?"

And there, admist the tumult of the forming party, is Rory with Paul Anka (dog Paul Anka, not real Paul Anka), a vision in the chaos.

"Rory! Rory, how did you..."

She smiles up at her mother and then lets her gaze slip to Luke. "It was all Luke. I think you got a keeper her Mom. Hey, did you know Paul Anka really hates stairs? I mean really REALLY hates stairs...like the Hatfields hated the McCoys hates stairs...and...Oh mom, I am SO happy for you!"

"I'm happy too!" she lets her gaze slide over to Luke, who is retrieving some Zima from a surprisingly jolly Taylor.

"Lorelaiiii, ohhhh Lorelaiiii! We MUST talk about wedding plans!"

""Quick, the eagle has landed, the ladybug has descended...who invited Mom and Dad?"

"I think Luke thought he was being considerate." Rory interjects, giving Paul Anka a pat on the head.

Lorelai rolls her eyes, but still lets the corners of her lips quirk for a second.

"He definitely thought so. Well, I'd better put on my armor and be ready to charge into battle."

"I'm going to go say hi to Lane...and Zach and Kwan and Steve."

"Lane is here!?"

"Yep, right over there."

"Okay, talk later?"

"Yep."

"I'm gonna go deal with Dragonlady and Dapper Dan. Does he have custom bowties made for every occasion? I swear!"

"Pow wow later."

"9 o clock, at the flagpole, bring moonshine and Bugsy Mallone."

"Later, mom."

"Later."

"Lorelaiiiiiii, your father and I want to see your ring."


End file.
